SerpApi.Org
A lot of people don’t realize that one of the ways to gauge how you’re doing in Hollywood is to stand on the set of your spinoff and look up. If you see a ceiling that wasn’t there before, that’s a good sign. That was the litmus test that Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady were using with their latest project,Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, from the world ofThe Big Bang Theory, airing weekly beginning July 23rd on HBO Max.
To anyone familiar with the 12-season CBS sitcomThe Big Bang Theory, comic book store owner Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) was a surprising choice for a champion–even if he does fail, according to the title. Chuck Lorre explains that they picked Stuart “because he’s the worst choice to be a hero.”Kevin Sussman who plays Stuart says getting the call was “super duper exciting. I think it really hit me the first day that I showed up to the studio lot, and there are all these golf course carts with the production driving around that say Stuart on them, and I was like, holy cow, this is real, this is happening."
Back in Time To The Comic Center of Pasadena
Stuart’s comic book shop, The Comic Book Center of Pasadena, is conversely the best place for a non-hero to use as home base, though, in terms of recognizability. Back inTBBT, the comic book shop was the place to buy books, get Stan Lee’s signature, and even meet real live girls (and potentially score their phone numbers). In this spinoff, every episode features Stuart, along with otherBig Bangfaces, as they try to undo the apocalypse under very different circumstances in each of the ten episodes.The interior of the shop reflects that episode’s plot.
Since this show is shot with a single camera rather than the three of traditional sitcoms, the team had room to expand the set to include a fourth wall and the aforementioned ceiling. Lorre says that inTBBT, “It's just lights everywhere–lights and catwalks, but no ceiling.” The creative team walked onto their new set and exclaimed “Oh, look, a ceiling! You guys! It was very exciting.”
When CBR entered through the doors of the shop on the Warner Bros backlot, Production Designer Valdar Wilt and Set Decorator Maile Cassarawere overjoyed to explain how much fun the series was to dress. The astronaut by the door became Merlin for an episode, DC heroes were made into centaurs, and comics even got traded out for leather bound books and scrolls once.Brian Posehn, who plays Geologist Bert, says “Starting with the comic shop is the obvious way to go, I think. You want it to feel familiar to the OG fans, but you also want to have it be this jumping off point to all these crazy universes that we go to…to me, that kind of writes itself.”
John Ross Bowie, who plays antagonistic Kripke, says that even if they didn’t have scenes there, they’d often just go hang out in the store. “It was really fun having it as home base for all 10 episodes.” Lauren Lapkus, who plays Denise, adds, “It's so exciting to be part of something where there's so much investment in every little bit of it.”
If you keep a keen eye on the background of the shop, you’ll see plenty of DC characters (heavily featured in later episodes), but also Mortal Kombat, Assassin’s Creed, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter, among many others. The production also partnered with companies like Sideshow Collectibles and Turbo Squid to bring it all to life.
Costumes That Evoke Familiarity And Fun
Also of high priority was making sure each episode’s vivid and unique costumes were on point. Costume Designer Valerie Klarich said that her background working on Saturday Night Live helped a lot. “I'm used to the quickness and the changing of every episode or of every sketch. But for this, we shot every episode in between six to eight days, and there's no prep in between.”
Her amazing team stayed on top of it because this isn’t their first rodeo. In fact, tailors who had previously worked with Marvel and DC films came in to assist. Their expertise was useful on all of the looks – including apocalyptic, military, magical, and classic Americana–but especially when superheroes make an appearance. Mr. Freeze, seen in the trailer, presented a challenge because as Val points out, “everyone does a version, and we wanted to sort of make it unique, all the while trying to achieve what DC wants.” As a result, Mr. Freeze’s costume includes tiny icicles printed on the fabric, adding to the long list of tiny easter eggs from all the master craftspeople involved in the Los Angeles shoot.
Adding to the intensity, each look needs multiple versions for different actors–the main actor, their stunt double, a body double, and photo double. “It's really funny and very confusing to shoot, and we all had to constantly have a conversation of like, okay, wait, who are we, and what are we dressing, and how?” Klarich said.
But again, like the Comic Book Shop, fans can expect a similar-but-different vibe to the looks the characters are famous for. “I was kind of able to shift them ever so slightly to evolve through…because I wanted it to feel unique to this new show, but at the same time bringing over what [TBBTcostume designer Mary T. Quigley] created, so that the fans get a little bit of that. When I watch new seasons, or new shows or spin-offs, you're yearning for that old thing that you loved, and this is a completely different show.”
Los Angeles Plays Itself...Mostly
Being given a California tax credit was crucial to filling out the Los Angeles-based crew. Co-creator and executive producer Bill Prady mentions “Noah Wiley was talking about this a lot, becauseThe Pittalso benefited from the California tax credit, and he made the same comment, which is there are good people everywhere, there areamazing people in Los Angeles. The ability to have somebody who does this amazing work, and then you can go home at night to their family instead of to a hotel in Toronto, and that's a different life.”
He continues to say it reflects in the finished product. “I really think that that's part of what you're seeing in the show–you had enthusiasm from the crew, which shows up on the screen, which came from their quality of life during the process of making the show.”
Excitement For This Season...and Beyond?
The enthusiasm shines through, even when the cast talks about working with the challenging and very important key prop involving quantum entanglement that escorts them around this universe. It is featured in all ten of the episodes this season, and it weighs about “as much as a sewing machine,” Sussman shares. Lapkus didn’t hold it often and was glad. “There are a lot of scenes where the guys are running carrying it, and I know that was not easy.”
Sussman adds that it was also important how they used it, since they know their audience appreciates specificity and pays close attention. “It does have a procedure that we had to go through. There's this dial with numbers and it always starts from zero, and then there's a whole sequence to it that every single time it's in a shot doing the sequence, you're hoping you don't screw it up.”
And as for cameos during the season, there are plenty, both from TBBT universe and outside of it. When asked if they have (unconfirmed) season two ideas for anyone who doesn’t make an appearance in season one, Prady says “everybody is welcome to come play.”
